Gen Zers were asked if they find a ‘salary of $75,000 a year to be poor’ — their responses expose reality of living in America

via GIPHY

u/StinkySauk wrote, “If you have a roommate in NYC, and don’t have a car, you probably don’t have a lot of other expenses. You could probably save a good amount by making $75k in NYC. There are people making 20$ or even less living in Manhattan. You and I might argue that their living conditions are less than ideal, but unlike a lot of suburbs, places like NYC do give you more options for living frugally. In the area I live in, 95% of the housing supply is 1-bedroom starting at 650sqft. I could live with a lot less, but I basically have no choice but to pay for a bunch of space I don’t need, unless I wanted roommates, which I don’t.” u/Rude-Illustrator-884 remarked, “It depends on your area and how financially independent you are. Where I’m at, a single person making less than $80k is considered low income and probably this year they’re going to up it to $83k. If you live in an HCOL area and have to pay every single one of your bills, then yes, you might be considered struggling.”

u/Rularuu commented, “People always talk about NYC like you have to be well into the six figures or you might as well be homeless. There are like 8 million people here. Rent is certainly expensive and taxes are certainly high, but I get by just fine on a pretty modest salary for anywhere in the US, as do most of my peers. When I read about people who make $100k and complain about living ‘paycheck to paycheck’ in NYC, it’s usually because they have richer friends, so they are trying to live way beyond their means and experience all the amenities that are made for the actually wealthy class. They want to go to nice restaurants, see Broadway shows, take taxis everywhere, etc.” u/jamespopcorn_46 added, “Depends on the area. NYC? Yes. Nebraska? No.” u/Strange-Payment5738 chimed in, “Everyone saying depends on the area is right, in New York I doubt you could order takeout on this salary, while in Iowa or Arkansas you’d be living decently.”